Tradeoff
by Archica
Summary: RuTif. Rufus offers information. Tifa offers something else.


Tradeoff

Tifa was careful with her expression when the cuffs were attached to her wrists and she was lead out of her bar. She couldn't risk looking too worried about the situation, or too comfortable. The Shinra guards practically dragged her down an alley and to a sleek black vehicle with dark tinted windows. It was a car she easily recognized, and drew in a sharp breath as the door opened and she was shoved roughly inside. She landed clumsily, her face colliding with the other passenger's lap. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment when she realized she couldn't pull herself back into a sitting position with her hands secured so tightly behind her back.

She turned her head to look up at him, giving him her darkest glare. "You're enjoying this, aren't you, Rufus?"

He looked down at her coldly, but a smile was obviously tugging at his lips. "You're the one who keeps finding ways to put your face in my crotch."

Using all the strength she could muster, she finally managed to jerk herself up, panting until she noticed his eyes on her heaving chest. "You're a filthy pervert."

Rufus ignored the insult and reached into his perfectly clean white coat. He pulled out a large, thick envelope and held it out to her. "I believe this is what you want."

Tifa frowned. "You've got to stop doing this. For one, I wasn't prepared. I don't have anything to trade for it this time. And for another, people are going to get suspicious if I get arrested once a week. This is the third time this month! For God's sake, can't you come up with another way to meet me?"

Rufus hadn't even looked at her while she spoke, carefully placing the envelope back in his coat and smoothing the fabric with gloved hands. When she finished, he looked at her sideways and returned her frown. "Do you expect me to send you an announcement that I'm coming? How would I do that? Send you a letter? Far too easy to be intercepted. This way is safest."

"Safest for you, but not for me. If the other members of Avalanche knew that I've been... well, if they knew what I'm doing, I could be killed!"

"Regardless, more information is right here in my coat," he said flatly, "Offer me something for it or get out of my car."

Tifa sighed. "I already told you. I don't have any info on Avalanche that I haven't given you already. I need more time."

Rufus did not respond, but Tifa noticed his eyes very pointedly moving down her body. She hated it, hated the thought of her mortal enemy drinking her in as if she were some whore standing on a street corner. But something inside her, something she hated even more, was burning with a sort of passion nothing else could provoke.

This had happened before, and she had sworn countless times that it would never happen again. But it always did. She knew it was her own fault, that she had started this whole mess to begin with. When Rufus suddenly appeared to her that day, offering valuable information on Shinra and demanding the same on Avalanche, Tifa refused to betray her friends. But the information was so important to them, and when she noticed his eyes constantly shifting to her chest, a horrible idea came to her. She had suddenly pressed herself firmly against him, wrapping her arms around his neck and taking only a little pleasure in how utterly shocked he looked. But her plan had worked, as she discovered that the man she had called a heartless monster for so long was, in the end, a human being with human needs.

She had intended to seduce him in order to get the information. She thought it would be an incredibly unpleasant experience, doing such a shameful thing with someone she hated so badly, but it was her who had the biggest shock. Rufus had been an incredible lover, to the point that she almost forgot about the Shinra information by the time it was over. But he had quietly reached her an envelope as he pulled on his clothes and then departed without a word.

It didn't take long for Rufus to realize the effect he had on her, and he certainly used it to his advantage. He had taken to showing up nearly every week, offering information. Occasionally, when the shame of what she was doing was too much for her, she gave him fake information on Avalanche, files and papers that contained nothing more than made-up names, locations, and plans. She knew it was a dangerous idea, that Rufus would be infuriated if he ever figured it out, but she couldn't bear the idea of being his whore whenever and wherever he decided.

So this day, handcuffed in his car, Tifa tried to resist. She tried to imagine all the people he had hurt, all the lives he had destroyed, simply because he was the heir to the Shinra corporation. And with horror, she imagined how much more terrible things would be when he did take over. He was human, yes, but occasional glimpses of his darker side told her that he was one of the most sadistic humans to grace the planet.

But when his pale blonde hair fell in soft strands across those gorgeous aquamarine eyes as he stared at her, a peculiar half-smirk on his face, all resistance melted away. She nodded her head, and the half-smirk became a full-smirk. "Say it," Rufus told her, pulling off his gloves.

"I'll trade... myself."

Rufus quickly closed the distance between them on the seat. "Offer accepted."

Tifa pulled away. "Hey... take off these handcuffs."

Rufus grinned, an eerie sight as it was so very rare, and so very creepy. "I think I like the handcuffs. Let's keep them."

Tifa kicked him hard, nearly knocking him out the other side of the car. "Then I'm going home."

Rufus rubbed the knee she had kicked, glaring at her. "Alright... alright no handcuffs."

Tifa had to fight back her own smirk as she turned around for him to free her. She wondered how many other people could get away with kicking Rufus Shinra. But she didn't have long to think before he whirled her around and wrapped her in his arms. He was shockingly tender, as always, and she often wondered where he went wrong. How could someone so soft and warm in situations like this be so cold and cruel to his own people?

An hour later, Tifa dressed herself and Rufus reached her the envelope he had pulled out earlier. She took it slowly, and stared at him until he narrowed his eyes and said "What is it?"

She looked him in the eyes, then looked away. "Nothing... it's just... sometimes I wonder..."

"Wonder what?"

Tifa looked back to him, and the eyes that had been so full of passion only moments before were now as cold as ice. "Nothing. Never mind."

Rufus looked at her strangely. "You've been rather... off lately. Take care of yourself."

Tifa blinked, unable to believe he'd just said that. Was Rufus Shinra actually expressing concern for her? She smiled, perhaps the first genuine smile she had ever given him, and he was so taken off guard by it that a tiny hint of red appeared on his face. "I will," she told him, opening the door of the car, "Thank you."

She walked back down the alley, toward her bar. Before turning the corner, she stopped and glanced back. The car was still parked there, and the window was rolled down. Rufus was staring at her and from that distance, she couldn't possibly read his expression. Their eyes locked for what seemed like several minutes, until Rufus suddenly looked away and rolled up the window. The car then drove away, disappearing as the sun was setting amongst the rickety buildings in the slums.

Tifa returned to her bar, returned to her life as a member of Avalanche, just as she always did. But for some reason, on this day, a small, hidden part of her longed to go back to that alley and look for that familiar car. That tiny part of her wanted to ride with Rufus back to Shinra headquarters and remain with him for the rest of her life. She imagined that she could bring out the shred of goodness he had, convince him to change Shinra's policies and become a fair and responsible leader.

But the logical portion of her brain quickly reminded her that such an idea was ridiculous and unrealistic. Some people can never be changed, and some betrayals can never be forgiven. She couldn't leave her friends behind. She couldn't leave her life behind, no matter how depressing it was. And so, she would always be Tifa Lockheart, member of Avalanche, and he would always be Rufus Shinra, heartless tyrant. Some things were just never meant to be.

Weeks would pass, and that car would show up in the alley countless more times. But Tifa would never go back to it, would never even step inside when the guards tried to take her back. Her heart was beginning to get confused, and at this stage in her mission to take down Shinra, such confusion would only bring her pain. She vowed then, that the next time she saw Rufus face-to-face, it would be as enemies and nothing more. But then she realized, that they had never _been_ more than enemies in the first place. Anything more was just a fantasy.


End file.
